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National Security

Albert Gidari is the Director of Privacy at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. He was a partner for over 20 years at Perkins Coie LLP, achieving a top-ranking in privacy law by Chambers. He negotiated the first-ever "privacy by design" consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission on behalf of Google, which required the establishment of a comprehensive privacy program including third party compliance audits. Mr.

Stephanie Pell is an Assistant Professor and Cyber Ethics Fellow at West Point’s Army Cyber Institute (ACI). She writes about privacy, surveillance and security law and policy, and is particularly interested in the tensions inherent in enabling traditional law enforcement efforts and making our communications networks more secure. Prior to joining the ACI faculty, Stephanie served as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, where she was lead counsel on Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) reform and PATRIOT Act reauthorization during the 111th Congress.

Stanford Law School today announced the appointment of Albert Gidari as director of privacy at the Center for Internet and Society (CIS). Gidari will lead the center’s work on consumer privacy and data protection.

A new online platform launches today called Just Security, a forum on law, rights, and U.S. national security. Just Security aims to promote principled and pragmatic solutions to the problems decision-makers face in U.S. national security law and practice. The legal analysis and policy prescriptions proposed by Just Security will provide balanced and broad perspectives currently missing in the national security dialogue.

In April of 2006, Wired News editor Kevin Poulsen sued the United States Customs and Border Patrol under the Freedom of Information Act. Poulsen won the case, and yesterday the trial court granted Poulsen $66,000 in attorney's fees.

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"Others aren't so sure that security issues are the only forces at play. In short, "there might be some competitive questions here as well," says Henry Farrell, an associate professor of political science at George Washington University in D.C.

In an interview with CBC's On The Money Tuesday, Farrell said he can't help but notice that the targeted airports are all the major hubs of three airlines based in the Persian Gulf: Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways."

"As passengers begin to experience disruptions and learn that they can't bring their e-reader or laptop on an international flight, Brian Nussbaum, professor of national security and terrorism studies at the University of Albany, advised not to blame the chaotic process on DHS.

"If Trump or his aides insist on carrying commercial-grade phones, they should never be taken into high-level meetings, since there are known exploits that can power on the device’s microphone, Tom Lowenthal, a digital security technologist at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told Recode."

"“The policies and ‘pillars’ that were offered as solutions were often vague, and it is not clear they’d actually solve the serious challenges that exist in the region,” said Brian Nussbaum, a terrorism analyst at Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. “As in several other areas of policy, Trump’s approach to foreign policy and national security seems a bit nebulous, focused on slogans rather concrete policies.”"

"“Many small companies don’t read these things carefully,” Albert Gidari, a prominent national security attorney who worked on many cases involving such letters, told The Intercept during an interview.

He said that years ago, small companies would come to him for advice on national security letters — concerned they were not even allowed to get a lawyer. Things have gotten better since then, he says — but not a whole lot. “Small companies really have no advocate.”"